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On “Utaleta Mtu Lini?” and Other Attacks on My Peace!

 


Wait. Guys!  I think I’m officially qualified to say, “niko pahali pa hatari.” Because wait… what?

Is this what comes with being 26?

You people never warned me that once you hit this age, relatives stop asking how you’re doing and start asking about your marital status like it’s a government project. Suddenly, everyone is invested. Everyone is concerned. Everyone has suggestions.

You can be building a career, healing, figuring yourself out, learning how to be a decent human being, but none of that seems to matter if there’s no wedding loading.

Apparently, kumbe 26 comes with a wedding countdown.2

You never really start a sentence with “so” unless you are in a crisis.


So… today I am in one. A very big one. The other day my mother casually joked about wanting a grandchild. I laughed. Not because it was funny, but because my brain needed time to process the plot twist.

This is the same woman who, just the other day (okay, maybe a few years ago), used to issue firm warnings about girls.

“Focus on your books.”
“Girls will distract you.”
“Those things can wait.”

One time in form two, she found texts from Rachel, the first girl who ever got me having butterflies, do you know she actually prayed for me? 

Now suddenly, the same girls are the agenda.

Now she wants updates. She is giving timelines. Now she wants to know if there’s a woman in my life.

But I brushed it off you know, that’s just my mother being a mother.

Fast forward to this weekend. I’m home. Sitting with my uncle. Apparently, I am now man enough to sit with the wazees and catch up, talk about random things, as men do.

Then, in one breath, he asks a question that didn’t seem random to him at all. In fact, it felt well thought out. Like he had rehearsed it. Wrapped it nicely. Accepted that it had to be asked anyway.

“Umeamua utaleta mtu lini?”
(When are you bringing someone home?)

“Ati?” I reply, shocked.

What do you mean utaleta mtu at 26?

Am I not still young? Or am I the only one who still thinks like that?
I thought these questions start at thirty… or did Samoka lie to me?

He follows up with another question, confidently:
“Kwa nini usilete mtu? Mi sioni ubaya.”

Oh. Wait.

This man is actually serious.

Life is truly unserious.

Not if.
Not are you seeing someone.
The question is when.

I almost checked my pockets to see if I had missed a memo. Or an email. Or a family meeting where these decisions were made without me.

It’s funny, really. One minute you’re being told to behave, avoid distractions, stay in your lane. The next minute, the lane has shifted, and now you’re being gently (and sometimes aggressively) nudged toward marriage and children like it’s the next logical app update.

Don’t get me wrong, I love love. It’s beautiful.
Marriage is great. Children are a blessing.

But also… I’m 26 and still figuring things out.
Still asking important questions,  like what I want, who I’m becoming, and how to keep my plants alive. 

So for now, I laugh it off.

Because if I don’t laugh, I might start drafting wedding vows for a person I haven’t met yet.

If this is what 26 looks like, then wow.
This age really said, “Surprise.”

Anyone out there willing to save me from my misery, please send the word mpenzi to 2026.

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